Table of Contents
Shortly after lunchtime on 5 December 2006, crowds began to assemble outside Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase’s residence on Richards Road, Suva. At first they arrived slowly, a few at a time; but, as the afternoon progressed, numbers rapidly swelled, particularly after the arrival of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF).[2] The crowds were drawn by the news that their government was in the process of being overthrown, and the rumour that their prime minister would shortly be placed under house arrest.[3] The congregated sang mournful hymns and offered prayers for the nation in both Fijian and English. They rallied in support of democracy and to register their opposition to the military’s escalating political involvement over previous weeks.[4] Some had assembled spontaneously, whilst others, going by the church minibuses parked nearby, had been assisted to come by church ministers.[5]
The elaborate game of cat and mouse that had been played out over the previous days showed Qarase to be skilled in evading the military while operating a ‘government on the move’ and frustrating all efforts to locate him.[6] As the game neared its inevitable climax, all that remained between the military and Qarase was a line of the faithful, singing hymns and offering prayers: A moral force separating ‘good’ from ‘evil’.[7]
The dividing line between good and evil is an important, if relative, one in Fiji. The influence of religion pervades society, with both Qarase’s and FLP-leader Chaudhry’s religious convictions being as much a part of their appeal to the electorate as their ethnicity and political stance.[8] The relationship between religion and ethnicity is pronounced. Nearly all ethnic Fijians identify themselves as Christians; the Indian population is predominantly Hindu (76.7 per cent), with smaller groups of Muslim (15.9 per cent) and Christian (6.1 per cent).[9] For indigenous Fijians, Christianity represents a particular stage of social development, signifying a break with pre-Christian spirituality and cannibalistic practices, and uniting groups previously fragmented by tribal conflict under a common set of values. For the Indians, while religion represents an act of faith, it also provides a tangible link to the history of their settlement. It further transforms them from an isolated community in the Pacific to one historically connected to the grand religious, cultural and linguistic traditions of India.
Fiji remains a nation polarized by ethnicity, with communal voting exacerbating divisions, and skewing election outcomes. In the days immediately before and after the coup, the battle for the people’s hearts and minds focused upon claims by both sides to be the defenders of the rule of law and righteousness. Bainimarama’s ‘clean-up campaign’ was described as a moral crusade to cleanse the nation of corruption and discrimination, which he claimed was endemic under the Qarase government. Qarase, on the other hand, appealed directly to the rule of law, which he argued was directly threatened by the actions of the military. He claimed that the foundations on which society rested were systematically being undermined, with principles of democracy, good governance, the rule of law, and human rights being swept aside. He warned that this would be replaced by dictatorship through the barrel of the gun, which would inevitably lead to injustice, repression and chaos.[10]
Qarase’s support base amongst the Assemblies of Christian Churches in Fiji (ACCF) – which includes the dominant and influential Methodist Church – claimed that the authority of God passed to man through elected representatives, and that any challenge to this order would directly challenge the authority of God, resulting in Bainimarama ‘himself’ being ‘cleaned up’.[11] This appeal to non-earthly sources of authority was also found in the response of Hindus, through their emphasis on the religious authority of their scriptural system as bound up in the metaphysics of ‘dharma’. Dharma is a central concept in Hindu thought. Having no English equivalence, it is notoriously difficult to define but is commonly interpreted as justice, virtue, ethics, duty, truth, goodness and morality; it is regarded as the principle which upholds the moral and physical world.[12] In Fiji, dharma signifies the duty of each person towards a life of good conduct and the performance of righteous actions. These ideas are bound up in a cosmic jurisprudence, transcending national boundaries and temporal concerns.
The position of the Indians in Fiji is a precarious one, with the post-1987 period commonly referred to as a second girmit.[13] Unable to own land, the sense of insecurity and uncertainty is palpable. Since the mid-1990s, Indian farm leases have expired and many farmers evicted, often without compensation.[14] It is suggested by some that this is a direct consequence of a nationalist agenda, which has sought to marginalize the Indian position in Fiji. A trip to cane-growing areas tends to support this view, as many previously fertile, productive fields previously tilled by Indian farmers lie idle at a time when the cane industry is struggling to meet its commitment to fill international sugar orders.[15]
The population figures are a sobering reminder of the human costs wrought by the coups. The census for 1986 showed Indians constituting 52 per cent of the total population. By 2007 this had declined to 38 per cent. In the 20 years since 1987 scores of thousands of Indians have left Fiji, many of them professionals.[16] The resulting vacuum has been filled by ethnic Fijians through processes of positive discrimination that have seen Indians being passed over for promotion, or their positions being made redundant. Increased levels of unemployment and underemployment within the Indian community have led to a decline in self esteem amongst many men, and increased domestic violence, marital breakdown and suicide.[17]
In the aftermath of the 1987 and 2000 coups, the Indian community found itself on the receiving end of unprecedented violence:
… [F]or a few weeks there was unprecedented violence, particularly stoning and arson attacks against Indian homes by young Fijian men, sometimes with assaults and robbery. The attacks continued sporadically for a long time, and there were incidents of intimidation and physical abuse by members of the military.[18]
There was also an increase in violent home invasions. The targets were predominantly in the Indian community. In some cases, daughters have been raped in front of their parents, whilst there have been several reported deaths resulting either directly or indirectly from these invasions.[19]
[1] This paper deals with the response from the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji (APS/Fiji), the Shree Sanatan Dharm Prathinidhi Sabha (SSDPS), The Then India Sanmarga Ikya Sangam (TISI Sangam), Andhra Sangam (AS), Fiji Muslim League (FML), Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at (AMJ) and the Indian Division of the Methodist Church.
[2] The RFMF originally went to Qarase’s house at 11am, leaving an hour later. At 3pm, approximately 60 soldiers returned to place Qarase under house arrest. Roughly 250 people gathered – some offering prayers and hymns to heal the nation; soldiers awaiting orders while trying to maintain order; bemused spectators watching history unfold; and the media, recording it.
[3] Discussions with those assembled revealed the depth of feeling they had for Qarase. By voting for him and his government they claimed that they had endorsed his vision for the future of Fiji. He held their mandate and they gathered to ensure that their voices would be heard and their mandate upheld.
[4] In the weeks after this demonstration, the military were successful in curtailing protest through direct threats and coercion. One notable example was that of the Lami-based democracy rights activists, whose democracy shrine became a source of international media attention and an embarrassment to the military.
[5] The 2006 coup was the first to make extensive use of modern technology to transmit information. Mobile phones were widely used to coordinate group movements, such as the ‘Wear Black in Support of Democracy’ campaign. Blog sites have also been established within Fiji and overseas. Most of these sites are critical of the military and interim government. Some, such as ‘And This Just In’ (http://andthisjustin.blogspot.com/) and Fiji Nub News (http://fijinubnews.blogspot.com/), use humour to diffuse the tension; others – Solivakasama (http://solivakasama.wordpress.com/); Intelligensiya http://intelligentsiya.blogspot.com/) and The Rotten State (http://therottenstate.blogspot.com) take a more critical approach.
[6] For example, Qarase avoided roadblocks set up to intercept him when returning from a provincial council meeting in Naitasiri by taking a helicopter, landing close to his home, and thereby frustrating the military.
[7] In the days after the coup, coup-leader Commodore Bainimarama was characterized as ‘ungodly’ (Assemblies of God), the ‘manifestation of darkness and evil’ (Federation of Christian Churches and Assemblies of Christian Churches in Fiji), ‘the enemy’ (Assemblies of God of Fiji); Qarase was regarded as ‘ordained of God’ (Assemblies of God), ‘doing God’s will’ (Assemblies of God of Fiji).
[8] Qarase’s Methodism is well known, as is Chaudhry’s Hindu faith. Indians I have spoken to have expressed a belief that religion is an important component of a just leader.
[9] Fiji Bureau of Statistics: Census of Population. 1996.
[10] ‘Standing Up and Together For the Rule of Law’, The Fiji Times 4 December 2006.
[11] Paid advertisement from the Apostles Gospel Outreach Fellowship International ‘Regarding the Current Crisis in Fiji’, The Fiji Times, 6 December 2006.
[12] Lingat, R. (trans. Derrett, J D M) 1973. The Classical Laws of India, University of California Press, Berkeley. p.4.
[13] The term girmit is a corruption of the term ‘agreement’, referring to the indenture process by which Indians arriving in Fiji signed an agreement committing them to labour for a minimum period of 5 years. This period was characterized by violence, poverty, and social problems (such as adultery, suicide and murder). For further details of this period see: Naidu, V. 2004. The Violence of Indenture in Fiji. Fiji Institute of Applied Studies, Lautoka, and Prasad, R. 2004. Tears in Paradise. Glade Publishers, Auckland. and Lal, B.V. 1983. Girmitiyas: The Origins of the Fiji Indians, Canberra. pp. 43–67.
[14] Under the Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Act 1966 (ALTA), land leases were given for a thirty-year period. These began to expire in the mid 1990s. For further details see Reddy, M. and Naidu, V. 2001. ‘Land tenure system in Fiji: the poverty implications of expiring leases’, available at: http://devnet.anu.edu.au/online%20versions%20pdfs/55/10Reddy55.pdf (accessed November 2007)
[15] 2007 saw the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) unable to meet its sugar cane quotas for the European Union; it imported 40,000 tons of sugar from India to meet this obligation. The Fiji Times Online 17 December 2007 http://www.fijitimes.com/storey.aspx?id=76789. Fiji plans to import sugar from India again during the 2008 season. http://news.tradingcharts.com/futures/1/5/108234551.html
[16] ‘More Expected to Leave Our Shores’, Fiji Daily Post 16 December 2006:3. Figures based upon estimates by UN Population Fund regional representative Najib Hasifi.
[17] Adinkah, M. and Chand, A. 1996. Suicide in Fiji: Report of a National Survey, Department of Sociology, USP, Suva.
[18] Norton, R. 1977, 1990. Race and Politics in Fiji. University of Queensland Press, Queensland: p.138. See also ‘Fiji Coup Sparks attack on Hindus’, Hinduism Today, June 1987. http://www.hinduismtoday.com/archives/1987/06/index.shtml (accessed November 2007), see also ‘Coup Culture at a Micro-Level’ The Fiji Times, 9 May 2007:7, in which the incidence of physical attacks and robberies targeted against the Indian community is highlighted.
[19] Crimes against Indian families have also been committed by gangs which have included or been headed by Indians.